I am interested in various aspects of conservation science - the intricate interactions humans have with nature – how they affect it, and how they affect and interact with it. To explore these patterns, I use theoretical & statistical models, the analysis of data at scales ranging from the local to the global, and data collected in the field on various organisms. This is done using an array of approaches from purely theoretic perspectives all the way to studies linked to the on-the-ground implementation of conservation action. I am also interested in the arrangement and organization of natural phenomena in space at different scales.

Academic Publications 2015-2020
1. Mittermeier J.C., Correa R., Toivonen T., Grenyer R, & Roll R. 2021. Using Wikipedia to measure public interest in biodiversity. Conservation Biology accepted for publication.
2. Goddard M.A., et al. (including Roll U.). 2020. A global horizon scan of the future impacts of robotics and autonomous systems on urban ecosystems. Nature Ecology and Evolution, accepted for publication.
3. Jarić I, Roll U., Arlinghaus R., Belmaker B., Chen Y., China V., Douda K., Essl F., Jähnig SC., Jeschke J.M., Kalinkat G., Kalous L., Ladle R., Lennox R.J., Rosa R., Sbragaglia V., Sherren K., Šmejkal, M., Soriano-Redondo A., Souza A.T.,Wolter C. & Correia R.A. 2020. Expanding conservation culturomics and iEcology from terrestrial to aquatic realms. PLoS Biology, accepted for publication.
4. Vardi R., Mittermeier J. & Roll U. 2020. Combining culturomic sources to uncover trends in popularity and seasonal interest in plants. Conservation Biology accepted for publication.
5. Correia R., Ladle R. , Jaric I., Jepson P., Malhado A., Mittermeier J., Roll U., Soriano-Redondo A., Verissimo D., dos Santos J. D., Fink C., Hausmann A., Vardi R., Di Minin E. 2020. Digital data sources and methods for conservation culturomics. Conservation Biology accepted for publication.
6. Jarić I., Bellard C., Correia R. A., Courchamp F., Douda K., Essl F., Jeschke J.M., Kalinkat G., Kalous L., Lennox R.J., Novoa A., Proulx R., Pyšek P., Soriano-Redondo A., Souza A.T., Vardi R., Veríssimo D. & Roll U. 2020. Invasion culturomics and iEcology approaches to better understand biological invasions. Conservation Biology accepted for publication.
7. Roll U., Meiri S. 2020. Glass houses? – comment on ‘decolonising biogeography’. Frontiers in Biogeography. 12(2) doi:10.21425/F5FBG46908.
8. Jarić I., Correia R.A., Brook B.W., Buettel J.C., Courchamp F., Di Minin E., Firth J., Gaston K.J., Jepson P., Kalinkat G., Ladle R., Soriano-Redondo A., Souza A.T. & Roll U. 2020 iEcology: harnessing the Big Data revolution to gain insights into the natural world. Trends in Ecology and Evolution 35: 630-639.
9. Gumbs R., Claudia L. C.I., Böhm M., Hoffmann M., Grenyer R., Jetz W., Meiri S., Roll U., Owen N.R., Rosindell J. 2020. Global priorities for conservation of reptilian phylogenetic diversity in the face of human impacts. Nature Communications 11: 2616.
10. Pigot A.L., Sheard C., Miller E.T., Bregman T.P., Freeman B. G., Roll U., Seddon N., Trisos C. H., Swindlehurst D., Weeks B.C., Tobias J.A. 2020. Macroevolutionary convergence connects morphological form to ecological function in birds. Nature Ecology and Evolution, 4: 230-239.
11. Yom-Tov Y., Balaban A., Hadad E., Weil G., and Roll U. 2020. The plight of the endangered mountain gazelle Gazella gazella. Oryx, DOI:10.1017/S003060531900108X
12. Correia, R.A., Di Minin, E., Jaric, I., Jepson, P., Ladle, R., Mittermeier, J., Roll, U. Soriano-Redondo, A. & Verissimo, D. 2019. Inferring public interest in conservation from search engine data requires caution. Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment, 17: 254-255. *all authors contributed equally to the paper.
13. Mittermeier J.C., Roll U., Matthews T.J, & Grenyer R. 2019. A season for all things: phenological imprints in Wikipedia usage and their relevance to conservation. PLoS Biology, 17: e3000146.
14. Slavenko A., Feldman A., Allison A., Bauer A. M., Böhm M., Chirio L., Colli G. R., Das I., Doan T. M., Hoogmoed M. S., LeBreton M., Martins M., Meirte D., Nagy Z. T., Nogueira C. de C., Pauwels O.S.G., Pincheira-Donoso D., Roll U., Wagner P., Wang Y, and Meiri S. Global patterns of body size evolution in squamate reptiles are not driven by climate. Global Ecology and Biogeography 28: 471-483.
15. Roll U. and Berger-Tal O. 2018. Gritty until proven irritant - what makes a species invasive? Comment on Cassinello (2018). Conservation Letters e12597; DOI: 10.1111/conl.12597.
16. Mendlovic S., Saad A., Roll U., Ben-Yehuda A., Tuval-Mashiach R. and Atzil-Slonim D. 2018. The Association between Patient-Therapist MATRIX Congruence and Treatment Outcome. Psychotherapy Research, DOI 10.1080/10503307.2018.1448479.
17. Keren-Rotem T., Roll U., Bouskila A. and Geffen E. The contextual separation of lateral white line patterns in chameleons. Royal Society Open Science, 5: 171235.
18. Roll U., Iwamura T., and Berger-Tal O. 2018. National conservation science conferences as a means of bridging conservation science and practice. Conservation Biology, 32: 1200-1202.
19. Roll U. Correia R. and Berger-Tal O. 2018. Using machine learning to disentangle homonyms in large text corpora. Conservation Biology, 32: 716-724.
20. Renan S., Gafny S., Perl B., Roll U., Malka Y., Vences M. and Geffen E. 2017. Living quarters of a living fossil - Uncovering the current distribution pattern of the rediscovered Hula painted frog Latonia nigriventer using environmental DNA. Molecular Ecology 26: 6801–6812.
21. Meiri S., Bauer A.M., Castro-Herrera F., Chirio L., Colli G., Das I., Doan T., Glaw, F., Grismer L.L., Hoogmoed M., Kraus F., LeBreton M., Meirte D., Nagy Z.T., Nogueira C., Oliver P., Pauwels O., Pincheira-Donoso D., Shea G., Sindaco R., Tallowin O., Torres-Carvajal , O., Trape J-T, Uetz P., Wagner P., Ziegler T. and Roll U. 2017. Extinct, obscure or imaginary: the lizard species with the smallest ranges. Diversity and Distributions, 24: 262-273.
22. Roll U., Feldman A., Novosolov M., Allison A., Bauer A., Bernard R., Bohm M., Chirio L., Collen B., Colli G.R., Dabul L., Das I., Doan T., Grismer L., Herrera F.C., Hoogmoed M., Itescu Y., Kraus F., LeBreton M., Lewin A., Martins M., Maza E., Meirte D., Nagy Z., Nogueira C.C., Pauwels O.S.G., Pincheira-Donoso D., Powney G., Sindaco R., Tallowin O., Torres-Carvajal O., Trape J.F., Uetz P., Vidan E. Wagner P., Wang Y.Z., Orme D., Grenyer R. and Meiri S. 2017. The global distribution of tetrapods reveals a need for targeted reptile conservation. Nature Ecology and Evolution, 1:1677–1682.
23. Vidan E., Roll U., Bauer A., Grismer l., Guo P., Maza E., Novosolov M., Sindaco R., Wagner P., Belmaker J. and Meiri S. 2017. The Eurasian hot nightlife - environmental forces associated with nocturnality in lizards. Global Ecology and Biogeography 26:1316–1325.
24. Lewin A., Feldman A., Bauer A., Belmaker J., Chirio L., Broadley D.G., Itescu Y., LeBreton M., Maza E., Meirte D., Nagy Z., Novosolov M., Roll U., Tallowin O., Trape J-F., Vidan E., and Meiri S. 2016. Patterns of species richness, endemism, and environmental gradients of African reptiles. Journal of Biogeography, 43:2380–2390.
25. Roll U., Mittermeier J.C., Diaz I. G., Novosolov M., Feldman A., Itescu Y., Meiri S. and Grenyer R. 2016. Using Wikipedia page views to explore the cultural importance of global reptiles. Biological Conservation, 204A 42-50.
26. Barkan S., Roll U., Yom-Tov Y., Wasswnaar L.I. and Barnea A. 2016. Possible linkage between neuronal recruitment and flight distance in migratory birds. Scientific Reports, 6, 21983; doi: 10.1038/srep21983.
27. Roll U., Geffen E. and Yom-Tov Y. 2015. Linking vertebrate species richness to tree canopy height on a global scale. Global Ecology and Biogeography, 24: 814-825.
28. Scharf I., Feldman A., Novosolov M., Pincheira-Donoso D., Das I., Böhm M., Uetz P., Torres-Carvajal, O., Bauer A., Roll U. and Meiri S. 2015. Late bloomers and baby boomers: ecological drivers of longevity in squamates and the tuatara. Global Ecology and Biogeography, 24: 396–405.

Ph.D.: 2008-2012, Tel Aviv University, Faculty of Life Sciences, Biomathematics Unit.
Name of advisor: Prof. Lewi Stone
Title of thesis: Spatial perspectives of epidemiological and ecological problems.

M.Sc.: 2001-2004, Tel Aviv University, Faculty of Life Sciences, Department of Zoology.
Names of advisors: Prof. Tamar Dayan; Prof. Daniel Simberloff
Title of thesis: Invasive animal species in the terrestrial and aquatic habitats of Israel.

B.Sc.: 1997-2000, Tel Aviv University, Faculty of Life Sciences.

Courses taught

2018 Conservation biology: philosophy and ethics; graduate level; Ben-Gurion University (taught jointly with Prof. David Saltz).

2017 Introduction to Geographical Information Systems for Ecologists (GIS); graduate level; Ben-Gurion University.

2016 Introduction to Species Distribution Modelling using R; graduate level; Tel-Aviv University.